USRC ''Scammel'' was one of the first ten cutters operated by the United States'

Revenue Cutter Service ) , colors= , colors_label= , march= , mascot= , equipment= , equipment_label= , battles= , anniversaries=4 August , decorations= , battle_honours= , battle_honours_label= , disbanded=28 January 1915 , flying_hours= , website= , commander1= , co ...

(later to become the

US Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, multi ...

). ''Scammel'' was named by

Alexander Hamilton Alexander Hamilton (January 11, 1755 or 1757July 12, 1804) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first United States secretary of the treasury from 1789 to 1795. Born out of wedlock in Charlest ...

for Adjutant General

Alexander Scammell Alexander Scammell (March 22, 1747 – October 6, 1781) was a Harvard educated attorney and an officer in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. He was wounded on September 30, 1781, near Yorktown and subsequently died on Octo ...

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

, but one notes that Hamilton was rather careless about spelling - as were many men of letters of that time. This was the second cutter to receive the name of a Revolutionary hero but with an incorrect spelling (the was the first, the correct spelling is Greene).

Description

The surveyor who examined ''Scammel'' prior to her entering service noted that "she had two masts, one deck, a short

quarter deck The quarterdeck is a raised deck behind the main mast of a sailing ship. Traditionally it was where the captain commanded his vessel and where the ship's colours were kept. This led to its use as the main ceremonial and reception area on bo ...

, low waists with rails fore and aft, and was

schooner A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoon ...

rigged."

Operational service

As in the case of so many of these cutters, the ''Scammel''s monthly journals have been lost. Nevertheless, some information has survived. She cruised from

Nantucket Nantucket () is an island about south from Cape Cod. Together with the small islands of Tuckernuck and Muskeget, it constitutes the Town and County of Nantucket, a combined county/town government that is part of the U.S. state of Massachuse ...

Passamaquoddy The Passamaquoddy ( Maliseet-Passamaquoddy: ''Peskotomuhkati'') are a Native American/First Nations people who live in northeastern North America. Their traditional homeland, Peskotomuhkatik'','' straddles the Canadian province of New Brunswick ...

and on occasion did sail in tandem with the cutter ''Massachusetts''. ''Scammel'' seized the ''Lucy of Stamford'' for "illegal registration" which was eventually condemned and sold, along with her cargo for $750. The money was awarded to Yeaton. Overall it would seem that Yeaton and his cutter carried out their duties effectively. The local collector, under whose authority ''Scammel'' sailed, Joseph Whipple, informed Hamilton that:

The services performed by the Cutter I conceive to have been very important to the safety and preservation of the Revenue. The Coast which is assigned to her, that of New Hampshire and the
District of Maine The District of Maine was the governmental designation for what is now the U.S. state of Maine from October 25, 1780 to March 15, 1820, when it was admitted to the Union as the 23rd state. The district was a part of the Commonwealth of Massachuse ...
, extending nearly 300 miles, many of which afford convenient places for fraudulent practices which have been checked by the attention and vigilance of the officers of the ''Scammel''. The services for the year past consisted in cruising the aforementioned Coast, in entering and examining the Vessel's papers, instructing the ignorant coasters, and in bringing to justice those who break or evade the laws. Instances of contraventing of the laws have been discovered and prosecuted and some of them failed by the unaccountable determination of the court.

She was sold on 16 August 1798 to Clement Jackson for $565.

Crew

Hopley Yeaton Hopley Yeaton (1739 – May 14, 1812) was the first officer commissioned (March 21, 1791) under the Constitution of the United States by George Washington into the Revenue Marine (later known as the Revenue Cutter Service), one of the forerunners ...

, Master, 1791-1798. Yeaton probably brought along his slave, Senegal, during the ''Scammel''s patrols as was this practice was permitted by the Treasury Department at this time. John Flagg,

First Mate A chief mate (C/M) or chief officer, usually also synonymous with the first mate or first officer, is a licensed mariner and head of the deck department of a merchant ship. The chief mate is customarily a watchstander and is in charge of the ship ...

, 1791-1791.
John Parrott, Second Mate, 1791-1791.
Samuel Hobard, Third Mate, 1791-1791. Yeaton fired three of his crew after their first few months of service. The men had been in "open rebellion" over issues of pay and daily food rations - particularly after they learned that their fellow sailors on board the ''Massachusetts'' received more and varied foods each day than they did. Benjamin Gunnison, First Mate, 1792-1798.
John Adams, second mate, 1792-1796. Sam Odiorne, second mate, 1796-1798. In 1796, the enlisted crew were: Danzil Donnavin, Seaman.
James Smith, Seaman.
Thomas Fowler, Seaman.
George Yeaton, Seaman (he was Yeaton's son). Joseph Call, Boy.
Stephen Weeks, Boy.

References

''Scammel'', 1791
US Coast Guard website. {{DEFAULTSORT:Scammel First ten Revenue Service cutters 1791 ships